Health Committee on Dec. 14th, 2010

[Ujjal Dosanjh, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Yes.

[Paul Kells]

I agree absolutely with Louis's recommendations. The only other thing I would say is that in the vacuum of standards, which is really what we're talking about, best practices arise in places where they apply different levels of money and resources. The Passport to Safety program that I created happened when I got 50 volunteers from across the country, subject experts, and asked them not to represent their organizations or their provinces or their governments but to tell me as a person—as an employer, or labour person, or a physician, or whatever they were—what the minimum is that any kid needs to know before they go to work. It was really a simple question.

If we ask some simple questions, set some standards—as you do in so many other things—and then ask people to perform to those standards, that would be a great start. I think going through the kind of structure that Louis is talking about, and even the process, would be a terrific step forward.

[Ujjal Dosanjh, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

You have another minute, Mr. Dosanjh.

[Ujjal Dosanjh, Liberal, Vancouver South, BC]

Let me use that minute just to briefly say that I actually disagree with those who say that we have no jurisdiction in what provinces do. When we give them money, we have the right to make arrangements, which they should live up to. I think the federal government needs to have a more assertive role in health care, not just as an ATM, not just as a banker. I think the federal government has a larger influence than sometimes we give ourselves credit for.

I don't want to use my time. You can give it to somebody else. I think the points have been made.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Thank you, Mr. Dosanjh.

Monsieur Malo.

[Luc Malo, Bloc, Verchères—Les Patriotes, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I want to thank the witnesses for their presentation. I do not have any questions for them at this time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Thank you, Monsieur Malo.

Ms. Leslie.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

And thank you to all of you for your testimony today. I felt like standing up and applauding afterwards; it was incredibly compelling.

[The Chair, Conservative, Joy Smith]

Well, you do have seven minutes, you know.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

But I have questions, Madam Chair, that I'd like to spend this time asking. I'll start with Ms. Forbes.

I really appreciated your presentation. I'm with the NDP, and we have a sport critic, Mr. Glenn Thibeault. He asked a question in the House a few weeks ago of the Minister of State for Sport about injury in sport, particularly with amateur athletes. I have the answer here somewhere. I just want to read you part of the answer, because he talked about Hockey Canada and he talked about helmets:

Children wear helmets in Canada. [...] We support Hockey Canada in its efforts. However, I do not think this is a place for the government to step in and regulate.

I think it's clear that we are not just talking about helmets when we talk about injury in amateur sport, but I wanted to ask you: what do you think about the fact that the minister is saying that this is not a place for government to step in and regulate?

[Dr. Susan Forbes]

That's a good question. Thank you for asking it.

I will build on Mr. Dosanjh's comment. As a funder of Sport Canada and Hockey Canada, you absolutely have a say in where your moneys go and how they are spent. The fact that you have a minister of state responsible for sport clearly indicates that the government has a role in sport. Otherwise the thing wouldn't exist. In fairness, it has been a nebulous body, because it has been its own stand-alone ministry for years and then has gone back and forth.

That said, if you're going to be investing money in amateur sport in this country, then you should have control over some of what goes on. While you don't want to be heavy-handed and micromanage, clearly when initiatives are tied to the broader health of Canadians, both in dealing with pressures on our health care system and the health and well-being of our youth and adults there needs to be a much more evident role. I think you have the moral and legal authority to assume that role.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Mr. Wall, you and I have worked together, as you know. I have a bill for a suicide prevention strategy, and CASP has been wonderful in helping us out with information and putting it together. You and I have spoken before about the Mental Health Commission and its role in suicide prevention. As you pointed out here in your testimony, there was just one passing reference to suicide prevention in the last report of the commission.

A few weeks ago we had officials here from Health Canada and the Public Health Agency, and I specifically asked about suicide prevention. We were told that the Mental Health Commission was working on a comprehensive national suicide strategy. Do you know anything about this? Are you able to fill me in on what's going on?

[Tim Wall]

To the best of my knowledge, that's not happening at the Mental Health Commission. I think we have to be clear that the mental health strategy, which is an incredible document, is not a suicide prevention strategy. At this point we are not aware that they are working on including a national suicide prevention strategy within their framework.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Their framework does talk about suicide.

[Tim Wall]

In “Toward Recovery” there's one sentence about suicide. In our conversations with them to date, they've been very clear that's not their priority.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Do you think there needs to be a separate suicide prevention strategy, versus just enveloping it into the Mental Health Commission?

[Tim Wall]

I think you can do either. If you look at Scotland, they developed their national suicide prevention strategy as a component of their mental health strategy. They complement each other. It is a stand-alone document within the larger mental health strategy.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

So the point is that it needs to happen.

[Tim Wall]

I think there's a lot to learn from Scotland.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

Thank you.

Dr. Francescutti, because you spoke about intentional and unintentional injury, I'm assuming that when you call for a national injury prevention and safety promotion strategy in your recommendations that would include suicide.

[Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti]

Absolutely.

[Megan Leslie, NDP, Halifax, NS]

In your recommendations you don't actually mention the Public Health Agency of Canada. What do you see as the role of this agency, and do you think the Public Health Agency is currently filling a role in injury prevention?

[Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti]

I don't think they are. If they were, we wouldn't have this big problem. That was a suggestion as the most logical place for it, if I had to put it somewhere. It could be free-standing as well. I always believe in minimizing bureaucracy, so if existing organizations lend themselves to that, it would probably be wiser to put it within them.

A lot of dollars could be brought in from industry to support a centre like this. Industry watches the bottom line, and at the end of the day they understand that if they can get people to be healthier from a mental or an injury perspective--even a sports-on-the-weekend perspective--they'll make more money at the end of the day. So there are plenty of industries that would love to be partners in this as well.

Where it ends up at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter. The Public Health Agency could be one place, but it could have its own free-standing centre as well.